Helping Communities Through Education

Displaced in Pakistan Seek Food, Shelter Among Barakat Community

Thousands of people are being displaced in Pakistan from what many experts are calling the worst monsoon floods in more than 80 years. Of those, nearly 600 have fled to the town of Attock in Punjab, the home-base of Barakat Pakistan’s schools and programs since 1994.

“These families are as newborns, with nothing to their name,” said Habibullah Karimi, Barakat’s co-founder.

Thousands of people are displaced from what many are calling the worst monsoon floods in over 80 years.

The estimated 75 families have come to Attock from the Azakhail Payon Afghan Refugee Camp in Nowshera, North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

“We survived only because we got on the train tracks and the roadways, which are on higher ground. And from there, we hitched rides away from the rising waters,” said one of the flood’s survivors.

As of now, many are staying in the homes of local relatives or friends in Attock. However, the local community is also made up of many refugees, and suffers from a poverty-stricken economy and a lack of resources, as it is.

Barakat is working closely with our Pakistani subsidiary to — first and foremost– supply these families with food and cooking utensils, clothing, medicine and funds.

We also re-open our schools on August 15, and will welcome in the influx of children from these displaced families with open arms, but we’ll need to provide these students with uniforms, textbooks and other supplies.

In order to effectively provide food, shelter, medicine and clothing, as well as accommodate our schools, we at Barakat estimate that we will need to raise $10,000 for the victims of the flood.

So, we need your help! Please donate to Barakat now, and be ensured that our organization has been established in this community for over 16 years, and will use our first-hand knowledge to correctly allocate the donations to those who need them the most.

By donating now, you will help provide a safe, healthy environment for families escaping this disaster.